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Peter Reading
Peter Reading (27 July 1946 - 17 November 2011) was an English poet, the author of 26 collections of poetry. Life Reading was educated at Alsop High School. After studying painting at Liverpool College of Art, he worked as a schoolteacher in Liverpool (1967–68) and at Liverpool College of Art, where he taught Art History (1968–70). He then worked for 22 years as a weighbridge operator at an animal feedmill in Shropshire, a job which left him free to think, until he was sacked for refusing to wear a uniform introduced by new owners of the business. His only break was a two-year residency at Sunderland Polytechnic (1981–83). After leaving Liverpool, he lived for 40 years in various parts of Shropshire, in later years in Little Stretton, Shropshire, near Ludlow. The benevolence of America’s Lannan Foundation rescued him from poverty. He was the first writer to hold the one-year Lannan writing residency in Marfa, Texas (in 1999), and is the only British poet , as well as the only poet to read an entire life’s work for the Lannan Foundation’s DVD archive – his filmed readings for Lannan (made in 2001 and 2010) of 26 poetry collections make up the only archive of its kind. Writing Reading is known for his choice of ugly subject matter and his use of classical metres.Keith Tuma, Anthology of Twentieth-Century British and Irish Poetry (2001), p. 725. The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Poetry describes his verse as "strongly anti-romantic, disenchanted and usually satirical".Martin Seymour-Smith "Reading, Peter" in Ian Hamilton (ed.) The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Poetry, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994, p.443 Interviewed by Robert Potts, he described his work as a combination of "painstaking care" and "misanthropy".Robert Potts [http://www.oxfordpoetry.co.uk/texts.php?int=v3_peterreading "An Interview with Peter Reading", Oxford Poetry, OP V.3 1990 Recognition Reading won the Lannan Award for Poetry twice, in 1990 and 2004. His 1997 collection Work in Regress was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize. Awards *Cholmondeley Award (1978) *Dylan Thomas Award (1983), for Diplopic *Whitbread Prize for Poetry (1986), for Stet *Lannan Literary Award for Poetry, 1990 and 2004. Publications Poetry *''Water and Waste''. Walton on Thames, UK: Outpost, 1970. *''For the Municipality's Elderly''. London: Secker & Warburg, 1974. *''The Prison Cell / Barrel Mystery''. London: Secker & Warburg, 1976. *''Nothing for Anyone''. London: Secker & Warburg, 1977. *''Fiction''. London: Secker & Warburg, 1979. *''Tom o'Bedlam's Beauties''. London: Secker & Warburg, 1981. *''Diplopic''. London: Secker & Warburg, 1983. *''5x5x5x5x5'' (1983) *''C''. London: Secker & Warburg, 1984. *''Ukulele Music / Going On''. London: Secker & Warburg, 1985. *''Stet''. London: Secker & Warburg, 1986. *''Final Demands''. London: Secker & Warburg, 1988. *''Perduta Gente''. London: Secker & Warburg, 1989. *''Shitheads''. London: Squirrelprick Press, 1989. *''Three in One''. London: Chatto & Windus, 1991. *''Evagatory''. London: Chatto & Windus, 1992. *''Last Poems''. London: Chatto & Windus, 1994. *''Ukelele Music / Perduda Gente''. Evanston, IL: TriQuarterly Books, 1994. *''Collected Poems: Volume 1, 1970-1984''. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Bloodaxe, 1995. *''Penguin Modern Poets'' 3 (by Glyn Maxwell, Mick Imlah, & Oeter Reading). London: Penguin, 1995. *''Collected Poems" Volume 2, 1985-1996''. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Bloodaxe, 1996. *''Chinoiserie''. Ryton, UK: Bay Press, 1997. *''Work in Regress''. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Bloodaxe, 1997. *''Ob''. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Bloodaxe, 1999. *''Marfan''. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Bloodaxe, 2000. *''untitled. Tarset, Northumberland, UK: Bloodaxe, 2001. *''Faunal. Tarset, Northumberland, UK: Bloodaxe, 2002. *''Collected Poems: Volume 3, 1997-2003''. Tarset, Northumberland, UK: Bloodaxe, 2003. *''-273.15''. Tarset, Northumberland, UK: Bloodaxe, 2005. *''Vendange Tardive''. Tarset, Northumberland, UK: Bloodaxe, 2010. Collected editions *''Essential Reading'' (edited by Alan Jenkins). London: Secker & Warburg, 1986. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Peter Reading, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Aug. 31, 2015. Audio / video *''Peter Reading'' (videocassette). Santa Fe, NM: Lannan Foundation, 1982. *''Peter Reading'' (VHS). Los Angeles: Lannan Foundation, 1992. Except where noted, discographical information courtesy WorldCat. See also *List of British poets * English translations of Homer: Peter Reading References *Isabel Martin, Reading Peter Reading. Bloodaxe, 2000. Notes External links ;Poems *10 untitled poems in Qualm ;Audio / video *Peter Reading at the Lannan Foundation (bio & podcasts) ;About *Peter Reading at the British Council *Biography *Peter Reading obituary at The Guardian *Peter Reading (1946-2011) at Bloodaxe Blogs *"Remembering Peter Readin" by Alan Jenkin, Times Literary Supplement Category:1946 births Category:2011 deaths Category:Costa Book Award winners Category:People from Liverpool Category:Alumni of Liverpool College of Art Category:English male poets Category:20th-century English poets Category:20th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:English poets Category:Poets